Since March 2022, Ukraine has been my home. 

And this winter has been one of the hardest I have witnessed. Freezing cold came together with missile strikes that turned once‑warm homes into places of sheer survival. 

Lights went out. Heat disappeared. Families and communities suffered. Even for me, at times, it felt overwhelming.

And then I looked at the women around me.

Our women colleagues – after sleepless nights – still led teams, coordinated partners, solved crises. 

They supported their families, volunteered, and held their communities together. This strength is everywhere. 

In the communities I visited, I met women who lost their own homes but are now rebuilding the homes of others. Women who stepped in when crisis arrived. 

Women entrepreneurs, teachers, farmers, veterans, social workers, first responders, and local leaders.

But this resilience comes at a cost.

While women step up again and again, the burdens they carry grow heavier. 

They are still expected to care for the home, children, and older relatives – often while working full time and volunteering. 

They postpone their own dreams because society still expects their primary role to be caretaking. 

They earn less, not because they can do less, but because the playing field remains unequal.

The war has deepened these inequalities. 

Women now make up more than 82 percent of all registered unemployed persons in Ukraine in 2025 – a stark reminder of how heavily the economic consequences of the war fall on them. 

Unpaid care work has increased, while access to stable employment and economic security has shrunk.

International Women’s Day is not about flowers and spring. It is about respect, dignity, equal opportunity, and equal voice.

Ukraine will overcome this storm. But our recovery will be stronger only when women are not just the backbone of survival – but equal leaders in rebuilding this country. 

When women rise, communities rise. And when women lead, nations rebuild.